Is Your Company Producing the Wrong Type of Content? A Strategic Look

When it comes to the mistakes businesses make with respect to an effective content marketing strategy, the list is a long one. But perhaps, at the top of the list, is the reality that so many businesses are producing the wrong type of content—at least when it comes to generating revenue for the company.

For those companies actively engaged in content marketing, I have found there are 3 main types of content, and as I describe each below, I’d challenge you to consider where the majority of your content falls. (Note** Content types can easily overlap, but more often than not, they lean towards one of the three mentioned herein.)

Feel-Good Content

Although you’ve likely not heard the phrase “feel good” content before, it’s certainly something you’ve seen online multiple times over the years. In fact, one of the main signs of a “feel good” piece is that it brings you a smile when you read the title. Or, if it doesn’t bring you a smile, it sparks your curiosity. Here is an example from The Sales Lion:

From many marketer’s perspectives, the article above would be considered a very successful piece of content. It used the popularity of The Lego Movie to make a point about brand storytelling, and it did quite well from a social-sharing perspective.

That being said, this type of article likely will NOT generate many (if any) leads for The Sales Lion as a digital marketing agency. Why? Because it’s not specifically addressing a direct problem related to the majority of our B2B or B2C clients looking to engage an agency for assistance.

Thought-Leadership Content

Ever read an article online that started with, “The future of….”? If so, you just read the most classic example of a thought-leadership post. Generally, these types of articles analyze current industry and market trends but also make predictions going forward. Furthermore, they discuss the good, bad, and ugly an industry has to offer.

Although thought-leadership content can generate leads for a company, it’s more of a positioning piece than a straight lead-gen piece. This being said, thought-leadership content is great for those looking to grow their brand as a teacher, speaker, or presenter in a particular industry.

For example, over the past 5 years of writing on The Sales Lion, a large portion of the content here has been of the thought-leadership flavor. This strategy has dramatically influenced my speaking career, but it has also slowed down the progress of the agency side of the business. (For example, many folks still don’t know TSL is a digital marketing agency…but this is changing.)

Here’s an example of a thought-leader post from TSL:

Lead-Generating Content

Although the two previous types of content *can* generate new business, lead-generating content is focused clearly on the questions/fears/thoughts of a company’s ideal prospect or client. The easiest way to look at thought leadership content is by simply asking yourself this question:

If someone is in the buying process of our product or service, would they potentially be asking/needing to know the subject of this post?

For example, if we were looking at the ideal swimming pool prospect (B2C), the questions would look something like this:

Here is the thing about lead-generating content folks—It’s oftentimes not viewed as “sexy” in this social media world we all live in. This means it’s likely not going to be a home run on Twitter, Facebook, etc. But despite this, it actually has a better chance of generating long-term traffic, leads, and sales.

Another example of this is “industry” or “vertical” based content. This type of content is not even applicable to a large portion of a company’s audience. Notwithstanding, the small portion it *does* apply to makes it, potentially, a very valuable piece of content. An example of this in my case would be the Hubcast—a podcast that is focused purely on those companies using or interested in using HubSpot. A small portion of the TSL audience uses HubSpot. Notwithstanding, that little weekly podcast is a strong lead-gen tool for our company.

Where’s Your Focus?

Hopefully you’re seeing the differences between these types of content and also thinking about which type(s) would make the most sense for you and your business. Yes, there are points where the three can and do overlap, but for the most part, they each have a unique strategy and goal.

Finally, one last point to make: Be careful not to get too caught up in other blogs and websites to the point where you lose sight of your goals, vision, and ideal client. Fact is, you DON’T have to be considered a “thought-leader” to generate a tremendous amount of leads for your business. But you DO have to be useful, helpful, and utilitarian. If you’re able to always keep your ideal client front and center, while at the same time letting go of vanity metrics, you’ll likely find the success content marketing success you’re looking for.

Well put Marcus. To me, it seems it’s easy to get caught up in the feel-good and thought leadership content realms, but really, why am I doing it if not to generate leads? The lead-generating content may sound less interesting, and be more of a grind, but for B2B I think that’s where it’s at. Great stuff, thanks.

October 15, 2014 at 1:25 pm

Shahid Wazed

Great post Marcus!! Loved the distinction between thought leadership and lead-gen content! Keep up the great work you do!

October 15, 2014 at 5:02 pm

Marcus Sheridan

So glad you liked it Shahid, and hope you’re doing well!!

October 15, 2014 at 5:03 pm

Marcus Sheridan

You’re exactly right Doug, and that’s why it’s so easy to get distracted. It can be a grind. It can also feel more boring.

But when the leads come in, then it gets exciting 😉

See you soon my man,

Marcus

October 15, 2014 at 7:26 pm

Jeremy Abel

Hi Marcus,

Love the way you’ve broken these into specific categories. My favorite (and primary focus for our agency as I’m building out our editorial calendar this evening) is Lead-Generation content. The beauty of this content is that it can be re-purposed into other formats (e.g. videos, premium offers, and even presentations), providing additional opportunities for generating leads and helping buyers. Although the process of creating this type of content often requires a bigger time investment, but it also pays off the biggest dividends (both in terms of time saved (for salespeople, and buyers) and leads acquired (for marketers)). And as buyers’ questions continue to evolve, so too will the opportunity to create more of the content that answers their questions / solves their problems.

As always, thanks for all your help brother. Keep changing lives.

Jeremy

October 16, 2014 at 6:39 am

Melilea

Very useful information, I will try to apply it in my business

October 16, 2014 at 1:42 pm

Rodrigo

Great post Marcus. This is one of your best posts, really useful, helpful, and utilitarian! 🙂

October 16, 2014 at 2:53 pm

Dekker

The most insightful article I’ve read in a long time.

October 20, 2014 at 10:29 am

Daryl

If someone is in the buying process of our product or service, would they potentially be asking/needing to know the subject of this post?

I think that’s the question I need to be asking myself every time I write a post!